Green Hills Software Tools Critical To Mars Rover Missions
Santa Barbara - Aug 12, 2003 All the flight software aboard the two Mars Exploration Rover missions was written by engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) using software development tools from Green Hills Software. Both the "Opportunity" rover, launched July 7, and the "Spirit" rover, launched June 10, are being directed and controlled by software programs and systems written with the use of Green Hills development tools. "The two Mars rovers are essentially very sturdy, complex computers," says David Kleidermacher, vice-president of engineering at Green Hills. "And like every computer, they need specific software programs to tell them how to perform all the complex functions of space flight, landing and operation on the surface of Mars. The Green Hills tools are the building blocks for those software programs." JPL engineers faced a number of unique challenges when building the hardware and software for the two Mars rovers. They utilized the expertise of Green Hills' engineers to help them rebuild the rovers' entire operating system software with one set of software tools. "Our engineers were able to provide JPL with the right products and professional knowledge--two elements that were critical to the success of their Mars missions," said Kleidermacher.
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Spirit Heading To 'Home Plate' Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 09, 2006 Last week Spirit completed robotic-arm work on "El Dorado." The rover used all three of its spectrometers plus the microscopic imager for readings over the New Year's weekend. |
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